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On January 22, 2025, the Syrian Euphrates Post media outlet shared a 12-second video, showing armed men in uniform marching in the city of Deir Al-Zour, in a military parade.[1] In the post, the channel wrote that the footage displays the graduation ceremony of the first batch of special forces belonging to the Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-linked Ministry of Defense in the new Syrian administration.
The graduates, surrounded by civilians observing the parade, are heard shouting an antisemitic slogan: "Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews! Muhammad's army will return!" This chant has both religious and historic significance, referencing the Battle of Khaybar, when, in 628 A.D., an outnumbered band of early Muslims, led by Prophet Muhammad, conquered the Jewish community of Khaybar, in Medina Province, Saudi Arabia. To engage the viewers and assess their perspectives, the channel asked: "What do you think of the slogans chanted by the new fighters during the graduation parade?"
This is not the first instance of Khaybar being referenced to oppose Israel. On October 1, 2024, Lebanese Hizbullah announced the start of "Operation Khaybar," its response to Israel for the killing of Hizbullah's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah. Iran-backed Telegram channels in Lebanon and Iraq thereafter released posters and videos heralding the operation and threatening Israel, using the phrase: "Khaybar, Khaybar."[2]
[1] X, January 22, 2025.
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